In the manufacture of shoes, such as athletic shoes, the controlled application of a curable adhesive in a shoe article for the purpose of maintaining a mechanically stable end product is desirable. In the past, contact adhesives, hot melt adhesives and other types of adhesives have been used in the manufacture of shoes. The methods and devices used for manufacturing shoes have generally remained relatively complex and time consuming. Furthermore, adhesives used in shoe manufacturing can slow to form final mechanically stable bonds for obtaining a mechanically sound article. While previous methods, adhesives, and application devices may have formed useful bonds, the application of the adhesive often could lead to lower than desired manufacturing yield rates due to adhesive squeeze out, or soiling, of the exterior surfaces of the final shoe product. Such soiling results from the application of excessive amounts of adhesive that can be expelled from the bonding zone to the exterior surfaces of the shoe upper or sole where the flaws would be visible to a customer.
A substantial need exists for a method of shoe assembly and an apparatus for curable adhesive application that obtains highly productive shoe assembly with minimal steps but still results in high quality structural adhesive bonding in a mechanically stable shoe product.